


The Man in the Tent

by coh_i



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Meeting, Alternate Universe, BokuAka Week, BokuAka Week 2020, M/M, Well - Freeform, this is for day 6!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:40:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25731502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coh_i/pseuds/coh_i
Summary: “So… How exactly did you guys meet again?”Bokuto and Akaashi share a look and smile.“Well…”---Done for Bokuaka Week 2020 - Day 6! Just a small thing.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Kudos: 21





	The Man in the Tent

**“** So… How exactly did you guys meet again?” 

Bokuto and Akaashi share a look and smile. 

“Well…” 

* * *

_ “Hello, I was wondering who I was supposed to talk to?”  _

_ “Excuse me?” The man got up from the floor and looked at Akaashi. He looks confused.  _

_ “For… for the job. I saw you were hiring?” His voice tilts up into a question, unsure in the face of actually asking it. Akaashi doesn’t even want this job. What was he doing? He doesn’t know anything about camping. But, then again, anything is better than what he’s already doing. _

_ “Who do I talk to?” He continues. He gives the man a polite smile.  _

_ The man shrugs. “Someone who works here?”  _

_ The realization washes over him. “Oh! Oh, I’m.. sorry.” Akaashi looks down sheepishly.  _

_ “Don’t be sorry.” There’s a pause and the man looks thoughtful. “I could work here.” Another pause. “I wouldn’t mind working here.”  _

_ Akaashi plays with his fingers, nervous. “I just… I saw you coming out of the tent? So I thought…” He trails off.  _

_ “Oh! I was lying down in it.” The man beams. “They always say you should lay down in a tent before you buy it.” He says it with the matter-of-fact tone of someone stating something they’re sure of. Akaashi isn’t quite sure that that’s a thing people say but he feels compelled to believe the stranger anyways.  _

_ “I.. I see. Do you uh.. Do you camp often?” Akaashi doesn’t know why he’s pushing forward with this conversation but, here they are.  _

_ “Not really. My friends like to camp though.” Now it's his turn to look sheepish. “I may have… broken their tent.”  _

_ Akaashi’s eyes widen and he can’t help but laugh a little. “Do I want to know?”  _

_ The man shakes his head. “Not even a little bit.” They trail off into silence. “So, you’re looking for a new job? Or  _ a _ job?”  _

_ “New job.” Akaashi clarifies. “I’m a bartender.”  _

_ “Oh! Where?” _

_ “Oh, um… airport?” _

* * *

Kuroo looks at them, incredulous. “Wait, so you met at a  _ camping store _ ?” He takes a sip of his drink.

Akaashi nods. He looks at Bokuto. “You know, I never did find out how you broke the tent.” 

Bokuto just laughs. “And you never will.” 

“And what, that was it? That can’t be the whole story.” 

They look at each other again. 

“No, it’s not.” 

* * *

_ “It’s you!” Bokuto beams.  _

_ The man turns around. “Hm?” A look of recognition passes over him. “Oh! Yes. Hello again.” He nods slightly. “The man in the tent, right?”  _

_ Bokuto nods. He holds out his hand. “I’m Bokuto, by the way. Bokuto Koutarou.”  _

_ The man takes his hand. “Akaashi Keiji.”  _

_ “So… Akaashi Keiji. I didn’t know you liked volleyball.”  _

_ Akaashi nods his head towards the game in front of them. “Do you play?”  _

_ Bokuto grins. “I’m the best! Do you?”  _

_ Akaashi smiles softly. “I used to. I don’t anymore.” _

_ They watch the game for a bit. The ball flies back and forth in a long volley before a sharp spike scores a point. Cheers erupt.  _

_ “They’re great, aren’t they?”  _

_ Another nod. “Do you know anyone on the team?”  _

_ “The setter.”  _

_ “Oikawa?”  _

_ “Tooru, yea.”  _

_ “Is he still with Sugawara?”  _

_ “Sugawara?”  _

_ Akaashi nods.  _

_ “Yes.”  _

_ “Yes?”  _

_ “Er.. No… On and off.”  _

_ A phone goes off. Akaashi answers. He turns to Bokuto when he’s done. “Sorry, I have to go.”  _

* * *

The two of them burst into laughter. 

“But that wasn’t true, was it?” Tsukishima looks at them, confused this time. “Those two have been going steady for ages.” 

Akaashi shakes his head. “No, but — ” 

“I was so nervous around him, I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t even know Tooru then. Well, I knew of him.” 

“That’s not the same thing, Koutarou.” 

“I know that!” Bokuto shakes his head. “It gave me another excuse to talk to you, at least.” 

Akaashi rolls his eyes. “He showed up to my work.” 

“How else was I supposed to see you?” 

“Well, you didn’t have to.” 

“Yes, I did! I couldn’t let you go around thinking Tooru and Sugawara were ‘on and off’ if they weren’t. I didn’t want to cause trouble.” Akaashi reaches out and takes Bokuto’s hand in his. 

“So, he shows up to my work.” 

* * *

_ This shift was dragging on. Akaashi felt like it would never end. Everyone there was drinking, waiting around for something. They were loud. It was really the kind of thing that you had to be drunk to enjoy, which Akaashi wasn’t. He just wants to be off. He’s counting down the minutes when it happens. He sees the hair before he hears the voice. _

_ “Hey, hey, Akaashi!”  _

_ Akaashi can’t help but smile. “Hello, Bokuto-san.” He’s wiping the back counter, but when he hears Bokuto he moves up to the bar. “Can I get you a _ — _ ”  _

_ “I wanted to tell you, I don’t know Oikawa,” He blurts out. Akaashi looks at him. Bokuto keeps going. He gets faster the more he says. “I don’t know why I said that. I mean, I do, I was nervous and I didn’t want to have to tell you I didn’t know anyone on the team, I just like volleyball, but I came here because I wanted to tell you I don’t know him, and I don’t know if he’s still seeing Sugawara or not and _ — _ ”  _

_ “Bokuto-san.” He stops and looks at Akaashi, who smiles at him. “It’s alright.” There’s a pause. “I get off in five minutes. Can I get you a drink?”  _

_ His eyes shine. “I could have a drink.”  _

* * *

“So we get a drink.” 

“A few drinks.” 

Bokuto shrugs, smiling. “I have beer.” 

“I do  _ not _ have beer.” 

“We stay there for a while.” 

“And we find out we get along  _ very _ well.” They look at each other lovingly. 

“So we leave the airport.” 

“And we’re trying to figure out where to go.” 

Akaashi gestures to Bokuto. “So  _ he _ says, ‘would you like to come to my place... for a drink.’”

Bokuto beams back at him. “And he says, ‘yes.’”


End file.
